Cricket is a very popular game to nearly 2 billion people in the world. Cricket has now turned into a billion dollar sports industry. This beautiful game has produced some great batsmen over the years. I have made a list of the ten of the greatest batsmen in the world. Well, it is a very tough thing to do. For doing this, I had to leave so many other great crickets. Still, I think that this list will satisfy most of the readers.

Sir Don Bradman

Sir Don Bradman is a name which represents the passion and art of cricket. This Australian legendary master cricketer is undoubtedly the best in the history of cricket. He could take cricket to such a height where Bradman is set as a king ruling others in the cricket world. He symbolizes a model of a batsman in the cricketing point of view. It is worthless to add an adjective before his name as every attempt will be in veil. With an enormous average of 99.94 in test cricket he could score 6996 and if he could score just 4 runs in his last international innings his total runs would be 7000 and most importantly his average would be 100! However, he has been dismissed without scoring a single run in that innings which is one of the greatest and most talked issue in the world cricket. He has the then record of 29 centuries and he used to carry out those hundreds to a larger figure frequently. He could score a century in every three innings at an average. His is the first and one of the second batsmen who has two triple centuries. Sir Don is one of the five Cricketers of the Century according to Wisden. Analyzing a number of things statistician Charles Davis find out that Bradman is the Athletic figure who is followed by Pele, Ty Cobb, Jack Nicklaus, Michael Jordan and Bjonn Borg.

Lara is considered to be one of greatest name in the history of cricket. This benevolent Caribbean cricketer holds the record of highest career run scorer in the test cricket with over 11000 runs. His batting average 52.05 in test cricket is also a loyal one. He is best known for his record braking long innings both in international and first class crocket. He is the highest individual run scorer in test cricket with his outstanding knock of unbeaten 400 against England. He was also the holder of this record before Mathew Hayden broke it. Then in 2004 he again grabbed his lost crown in the way of is smashing 400 runs. He became the first batsman to break the 400 margin in test cricket. “The prince” nicknamed this talented batsman also holds the record of highest individual score in first class cricket with his 501 not out against Durham. His one day international record is also very attractive. He is now on the verge of 10000 with an average of 41.37 in one day international cricket. He has 32 test centuries and 19 one day centuries in his career. After the golden age of West Indian cricket, he is the only man trying single-handedly to get back their old days. He is currently the captain of West Indies.

Sachin is one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket. He holds many records in both test cricket and one-day cricket. He is the highest run-scorer in one-day cricket and not so far away form being the highest run scorer in test cricket too. Sachin is the highest centurion in both Test and One-day cricket. It is surprising that Tendulker’s first cone-day international century at the 79th match. This talented player is compared with the all time greatest Batsman Sir Don Bradman who himself praised him and could remembered his own batting watching Sachin. He is the first cricketer to cross 10000 runs in one day cricket. He is also thehighest run scorer in the world cup history. Once he was the captain of Indian cricket team.

Sachin is the father of two children Sara and Arjun. His wife Anjali Mehta is the daughter of Anand Mehta, an industrialist of Gujrat. Sachin is also involved some social activities. For example, 200 children are getting help which is sponsored by Sachin.

Border was the former captain of Australia and is the first batsman in the test cricket to score 11000. He is one of the best batsmen in test cricket history. He scored 11174 runs with an average of 50.56. His performance against West Indies, the then leading cricket power of the world, was exclusive one. Though he got many successes throughout his career as a batsman, Australia could set their dominant position during his captaincy. He is regarded as one of the best ever captain for Australia. He led Australia in 93 matches and Australia could win their first world cup championship in 1987 under his captaincy. He is also successful in one day cricket with his bat. He scored over 6000 runs at an average of 30.62 with 3 centuries. The award for Australian player of the year has been named after Alan border. He is now a member of Australian cricket hall of Fame.

Gavaskar is another legendary figure in test cricket. He is regarded as one of the best test batsmen of all time. He was the highest test centurion till 2005 with his 34 test centuries. He has over 10000 runs in test cricket at an average of 51.12. He could dominate his era of cricket getting many successes against the then most powerful cricket side West Indies. It was a great difficulty for the batsmen of that time to face the West Indian fast bowler in their soil which he could successfully. He won the 1983 world cup cricket tournament for India. He was also captain for his team. He was also an outstanding slip fielder and he is the first Indian except wicketkeepers to take over 100 catches. He has over 3000 runs in one day cricket with an average of 35.13. In 1980 he became the Wisden cricketer of the year. For his excellent run scoring ability he was called “Run Machine”.

Steve Waugh is a great cricketer. He was a great batsman and even a greater captain. Under his captaincy, Australia had the best time in cricket history. He could also bowl well and got a decent number of wickets. What is so great about Steve Waugh was that he could perform well both in Test and One day cricket. For more than five years, he was the captain of Australian team (1999-2004). In 168 Test matches he scored 10927 runs (Average: 51.06) and in 325 one day matches (ODIs) he scored 7569 (Average: 32.90). He is among the few batsmen in the world to score more than 30 (32) centuries in Test Cricket. He had literally the nerve of steel and under his captaincy; Australia won World Cup twice and defeated all the other countries.

Gary Sobers was one of the benevolent figures of the Golden Age of West Indian cricket. It is said that he is the most influential cricketers of his time. Apart from Cricket, he was also good at golf, football, basketball, table tennis and dominoes. This legendary cricketer is regarded as the best all-rounder of all time. Sobers could score over 8000 with an average of 57.78. His career runs in test cricket was the record for that time. He could score 26 centuries in has career. With such a record in batting he also served his team taking 235 wickets in his career. In 2000 he was named as one of the five “Wisden Crickets of the Century”. In 1975 he was awarded the Knight by Queen Elizabeth.

Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards was the former West Indian legendary cricketer. He is laso regarded as one of the best batsmen in the test cricket. With his success in test cricket, he also could show his talent in ODI cricket. He was very popular for not taking helmet while batting which was a dangerous task for any batsmen as the opponent bowlers were Dennis Lillee, Jeff Thomson and Bob Willis who were a constant threat for the batsmen. He scored over 8500 in test cricket at an average of 50.23 with 24 centuries. His OID record is also something noteworthy. At an average of 47.00 he could score over 6500 in ODI cricket with 11 centuries. This hard hitting batsman was an influential cricketer of Golden Time of West Indian cricket. He was a part and parcel of the first two World cup champion West Indian team. He has over 36000 first class runs with 114 centuries. Sir Viv Richards is one of the best five Wisden Cricketers of the Centuries.

Wally Hammond

This English batsman has an exclusive batting average in test cricket and he is one of the notable test batsmen of all time. He could hold the record for highest individual test innings with his outstanding 336 not out which was broken by Len Hutton after five years. He has 22 test centuries. His class would be easily observable if anyone has a look at his first class batting career. He scored over 50000 runs with 167 centuries in first class cricket. He could make 22 centuries in test cricket. He also captained England. He played for Gloucestershire in his first class career.

Martin Crowe is another legend in the history of cricket. This New Zealander is one of the highest run scorers for his country in test cricket. He scored 5444 at an average of 45.36 in test cricket. Besides his 77 test appearance, he played 143 one day match too where he scored 4500 runs with an average of 38.55. His holds the record for highest individual score in test cricket for his country. He is now seen in the TV screen giving commentary and he is involved with “Cricket Max”, a local variation of cricket.

Do you think ponting not deserve a position in this chart?.If so check it out..

[I]Batting Records

1)Most Test runs in a calendar year by an Australian (1,544 in 2005). Ponting has passed 1,000 test runs in a calendar year on four separate occasions, in 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006. 2)Most test centuries in a calendar year by an Australian (7 in 2006). 3)Most test centuries by an Australian (33) 4)Most One Day International runs by an Australian (10,395) 5)Most One Day International centuries by an Australian (23) 6)Most One Day International fifties by an Australian (62) 7)Most runs by an Australian in World Cups (1,537) 8)Most sixes in a World Cup innings (8), shared with Imran Nazir and Yuvraj Singh 9)Most centuries in World Cups (4), equal with Mark Waugh, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin should be at first place along with Sir Don Bradman and there should not be second place, and one more thing is match win or lose depends on the play of 11 players not on a single player, compared to Ponting Sachin had more match winning innings, for Australia even if Ponting doesn't play well others will play well and lead to match win.See the average of Sachin in ODI's maintaining around 45 even he completed 400 ODI's and in tests maintaining 55.

And also one should not forgot thatsachin is the only player who is given out mistakenly by the umpiresmost no of times.

He is the only player who crossed 1500 fours in ODI's.(1747)He is among top 5 in sixes in ODI's(166)He is the among 3 who took 100 wik and scored 10,000 ODI runs and 100 catches(along with jayasuriya and sourav).He has most runs in ODI's.(15962)Most number of centuries in both forms of cricket.Most number of 50's in ODI's.(87)Most No: of runs in World Cups.(1700 app)Most number of Man of the matches and Man of the Tournaments(even in world cup's).He is 2nd in tests(surely he will beat lara).Highest partnership in an ODI(320 app) b/n sachin and dravid against Newzealand at HYD.Most no: of century partnerships(along with sourav).

I think what ever mahesh said is absolutely true. There is no second thought for it. Ponting has to prove more to get a place in top ten batsmen.Cricket hasn't seen the best batsman after Bradman except SACHIN.

Brian Lara Deserves 2nd Spot as he is the real entertainer and all his test innings are came under pressure and under great circumstances while tendulkar one day record is great bcoz he opened innings for more than 300+ times and lara played his last 120 Odis at very low in the order. Compare Lara test record and sachins and Lara simply greatest.

People say Sachin Technically correct .. thats simply rubbish .. technically 100% correct player should be the greatest player of spin as well. And no one better player of spin than B.C.LARA. in the history of the game. By FAR, FAR and very FAR Lara is the greatest player of spin than sachin. Ask murali or warne or any spinner. Also Lara likes to DOMINATE bowlers all the time and no other player inc. sachin does that at all times.

Sachin opened more one day matches 300+ times almost and if Lara would have opened innings 300+ times his record would be similar to sachin. Also Lara never concerntrated on ODIS. Compare EACH and EVERY test century of LARA and Sachin. No Comparison, LARA simply greatest. He carried a burden of rubbish team and all his Test Centuries came under very difficult circumstances. Sachin have 3 more hrds bcoz he scored over bangladesh and zim. Where as Lara never even consider playing against minnows.

Yes, i too agree Pavanlara's comment on Lara that B.C.Lara is a great player of Test Cricket, but not entire Cricket(he is a good player of cricket).But Sachin is a Great Player of Cricket. I think Cricket means not only Test Cricket, it includes Tests, onedays(Batting and bowling). Even though sachin opened 300+ matches the percentage of innings played by lara(289 0f 299) is almost same as that of sachin(397 of 497). Don't think lara doesn't got a chance to play in ODI's(he played 13086 balls in his entire innings where as sachin played 18669). I think Warne doesn't had sleep during sharjah cup with sachin's play agreed sachin is all time great.Sub continent pitches supports well for spin and that too sachin has great records in subcontinent.

how can u say sachin as not a match winner!!!!!!! he is the real match winner for india. remind friends who disagree this, player scoring fiftys at last overs is not compared to big innings which had been done by the masters, they are reducing the risk, and this innings are mentioned to be mactch winning innigs....... sachin is the real master, he deserve the second spot

We should not deffrentiate between Bradman, Sachin & Lara they are just too great in what they have achieved...Sachin has not achieved few of those things as Lara and Bradman has and Vice Versa...all have dont the maximum to the game of Cricket. So they just have to be treated with respect as the 3 Gods of Cricket

Talking bout batsmen ova the years that have had to cope and score runs in tough situations.. We should consider Stephen Fleming. Basically, New Zealand have had a Horrible team over the last 10000yrs and for 1 batsmen to have scored soooo many runs in a team like that has to be rewarded. He should be before Martin Crowe. Stephen Fleming is a legend of Cricket.

what about sanath jayasuriya.has enyone sceen someone hitting the ball better than him.he is the best player ever.does enyone no anather player who scored more than 12000 runs and taken more than 300 wickets in oneday internationals.all top ten is rubish here

As fas as we Indians are concerned, we shouldn't give a damn about who is the world's best. since, every cricketing nation's cricket followers would love to see their man be at the top spot.Sir Don is someone, who we haven't seen playing live. so, there is no reference to say anything except to hear from someone from his years... So, come-on you guys, we know how it feels when Sach is on crease and batting at 99, isn't it. The greatness of any player, for that matter cannot be tabled and summarized into top 10,25,100 or else. It can only be felt from inside which we do, when tendulkar, the master blaster is at his best. So, the bottom line is to enjoy a sport without getting into any spats like we all tend to do. Remember Sachin is born to be a cricketer and not anything else.

i don't know why people like pravanlara,dula have any credibility to comment on the god of cricket sachin,nobody is saying that lara is a ordinary batsman or ponting,but why we are comparing sachin with them or any other so called greats,the amont of runs he has scored in such a huge pressure of winning the game single handedly is unbelievable,if any of the so called great batsman can play under such pressure the will never perform as the great sachin.now come to the point of sir don bradman who played in the era when no technology were there to find his weakness or other technical faults,and also when he played the game it was a true gentlemens games.no media pressure,billion people expectation nothing and the tough scheduling of the icc,and the most part of his cricket life was played under the same condition of england and australia.......so before saying anything about the great sachin tendulkar plz think a bit atleast we are human not animal.

you know what is astonishing to me and i would love if indians especially could answer this question. didnt tendulkar played county cricket in england what is considered to be the highest level of first class cricket after test cricket? i would like to know what his results are please! since they love to brag about his test and one day career could somebody please present to me his county stats for yorkshire in 1992.

siva says sachin is always no.1 present and future no body can touch him.i dont critisize the great don bradman.he is legend.but dont forgot even bradman also liked sachin very much and he said that he played like him.MY LIST IS1.SACHIN, BRADMAN2.BRIANLARA,GAVASKAR3.ALAN BORDER,RAHUL DRAVID,RICKY PONTING4.GARY SOBERS,VIVRICHARDS5.STEVEWAUGH,SANATHJAYASURYA6.GANGULY,LUXMAN7.8.9.10.SELECT WHAT DO YOU WANT.

I agree with the list posted business world except. I would put viv richards right above Sachine. Only reason being. Viv won more tournament chasing as opposed to sachin who comes under tremendous pressure.

lara beats tendulkar hands down simply because of how he dealt with pressure.playing regularly in a poor west indies team,he responded consistently with big scores after coming in at 3 for 1 or 6 for 1 or even 0 for 1.tendulkar batting behind the likes of azzhar,dravid,laxman,sehwag etc uaually came in at 130 for 1 190 for 1 228 for 1 and so on.where's the pressure in that.ask yourself,could tendulkar have done single handedly to murali in sri lanka what lara did to him?no way!!

You all have no idea what u are talking about except for gopi although i would put ponting ahead of border. Don bradman is the best of all time that is not an opinion that is a fact then sachin. Brian lara played a lot of tests so thats why he made so many runs his average wasn't insane. And warne and mcgrath whoever said that this list is about batsmans. But gopi seems to be the only one that knows anything about cricket. Its cos most people that have written on this are indians and are bias towards sachin tendulkar.

sachin is best along with don.....no one will reach both hieght...it is absolutely rubbish to say any one closer to sachin and don...sachin has 51 test centuries and 46 odi ...playing almost 22 years ....with such a huge expectation...when ever he goes to bat...century is least expectation..

Don is head and shoulders above the rest anyone with an average of 99.94 is just awesome. Lara should be at 2 and Sachin at 3 because Lara played for the West Indies and Sachin played for India so Lara was under more pressure.What about Viv. He's my four what is he doing at 8 he was just so exciting. I love AB but he is not a number 4Steve Waugh is next at 5 the pressure he was under at Sydney 02/03 was intense but he still scored a century.AB is next at 6Gavaskar is at 7Sobers is at 8 What a player.Hobbs is at 9 he was in the top five wisden cricketers of the 20th century with Don Viv Sobers and WarniePonting is at 10 the volume of runs he has scored is huge over the past decade.Top Ten1. Bradman2. Lara3. Sachin4. Richards5. Waugh6. Border7. Gavaskar8. Sobers9. Hobbs10. Ponting11. McGrath (jokes)

PAVANLARA-this is from india,don't ever compare SACHIN to lara.one more thing lara don't know how to stand on criss.He has to learn from sachin "THE GOD FATHER OF CRICKET".LARA scored "400" in test cricket,bye the way u know that LARA took more than 4 days to complete 400,but if sachin was there he might have scored more than 1000.LARA took retirement b.coz he was not fit for "WEST INDIES"TEAM.What about sachin he is still playing for india team.bye the way country allows those players who does well in future cricket.

Refer wisden top 100 batting performances list..lara has 2 best performances in top 10sachin has no..lara z genius of timing and class..sachin isgenius in technique..both are great..but dont degrade lara..if lara played 400 odis he can cross 17000 runs easily..

TAKE SACHIN on the first position,fired don,lara etc from the list.sachin was the best,sachin is the best,sachin will be the best in future.Now ""koi ma ka lal hain"jo sachin ke khilaf comment marna chahta hain.from "VINU" GUJARAT.

Bradman ok, those days 5 matches per year no ODI,no great spinners only played in england or in austarlia most of the time,but we salute him and honour him as no 1 cricketer of alltime .the 2nd place (NOT FAR BEHIND) IS Sachin ,what has lara done to his country other than his records.my top ten has a place to Aravinda ,he is the one of all time greates,I was LUCKY BE AT EDEN GARDENS IN THAT SEMI FINALS ,WOT A KNOCK ,FOLOOWED BY A CENTURY AT LAHORE ,HE IS A GENIUS. MARTIN CROWE(crow) WHAT HAS HE DONE

This list is so out of touch!Bradman is there purely on his average.Lara is there purely on his high score.What about players like Barry Richards?He would have been the greatest batsman of all time, if it was not for a crap South African Government at the time!Graham Pollock too.... also complimented by Donald Bradman on his innings of 274 against Australia.There are a lot of unknows in cricket, who are simply left out, because of other over-shadowing reasons.

My list:

1: Has to Bradman - No one will ever reach that average... it is a great achievement!2: Barry Richards - Do some research on the man, and see what a true hero of a cricketer he was!3: Sachin Tendulkar - The man is a machine!4: Tied: Ricky Ponting - As touch as a leather belt! Never say die!4: Tied: Steve Waugh - He made the mould Ponting now fills! Gutsy and good!5: Viv Richards: A true great.6: Sunil Gavaskar / Garfield Sobers - nothing needs to be said... they were incredible players.7: Jacques Kallis / Rahul Dravid - Both incredibly gifted players, but both are slow, but run-scoring machines!8: Brian Lara - A good batsman, huge scoring ability.... against England, that is! 9: Kumar Sangakara - Great batsman with a good record, but not great to watch.10: Greg Chappel - he was good, and I needed a number 10 for the list!

Not particularly in any order after number 3, but my top 3 stand in my opinion.

you are donk if you say sangakkara is not great to watch he is one of finest crickerters world has ever produced pure class and tecnique.he is the one who you can enjoy watching other than all the players in your list.

I agree, sachin deserve a second position after bradman,,,,,, He is one of the great batsman, world ever had,,,,,,,, But never match winner,,,,,For him 100th run is 100times more important than scoring 99 runs...... Check his record... Out of 48 ODI matches when he scored a century.... India won 31, lost 15 and 2 tie...... Shewag 14 century only 1 loss,,,,,,, Ganguly 23 century only 3 loss,,,,, Gilchrist 22 century not a single losss...... out or 31 ODI match, he shared 8 match with other batsman scoring century too.... and you know what he scored most of century on flat pitches, where Yuvi can score century, too but he never get that chance becoz sachin wont lose wicket on that.......

my best batsmen is ADAM GILCHRIST who can't be matched with any other batsmen in the world , only except DON BRADMAN.............rest ALL are useless .........they had a very good luck behind their sucsess...............GILCHRIST is the only one who when scored a century, Austrilia won the match

some people are just clueless. ricky pointing and sachin always had a good team to make them look better than they are.yes they are to great players but if lara can guide a pittyfull west indies team through by himself he deserves number 2.so the list should be bradman lara sachin and then ricky some where in the list

The exact top ten batsmen's list of all time in the world are : 1. Sir don bradman, 2. Sachin tendulkar, 3. Brain charles lara, 4. Ricky ponting, 5. Viv richards, 6. Steve waugh, 7. Sunil gavaskar, 8. Allan border, 9. Rahul dravid, 10. Garry sobers. This is the best and better ranking list for the top ten batsmen's in world. A very tuf job to select. I thought this would be the best of all answers..

It is all academic ........... Don is number one the rest can argue .. Sachin, lara, ponting, kallis of the current era, Hobbs, Sir Garfield, Viv and Clive, Sunil, Pollock, and so many more , Brilliant ... but i guess it is Don at 99.94 then daylight

Batsman's rating should be according to the bowling attack they played against, ie how many runs made against:Warne/McGrathLillee/ThompsonWasim/WaqarMarshall,Holding, Garner et al.Hall/GriffithTrueman/StathamIf you analyse this you may come out with different opinion.eg Ponting didn't have to face Warne & McGrath, Richards didn't have to face the formidable W.I fast bowlers, seems to me Kallis is no.1.

Any list that excludes Kallis and Ponting cannot be taken serious. Both are superb batsmen and greats in their time. Kallis of course has the edge on the batting averages and is a bit behind on number of tests played so it will be interesting to see when both retire who comes out on top.

How can any batsman who played only in 90s and early decade of millenium be ever be compared to those who played before that?? Now cricket is just entertainment. Pitches are batsman friendly. There were times when batsmen had to face injuries due to bowling friendly ptiches and likes of Sir Jack Hobbs, Sir Don Bradman surviveved them with flying colors. So if someone makes 30-40 k runs he is nowhere near Sir Jack Hobbs and those who make average lower than 99.94 are nowhere near Sir Don Bradman. Greatness is not merely about number.......its about numbers achieved under adverse circumstances..........

I think rahul dravid is the best and has been a great servant to indian cricket i wud say he should rather be at top even ahead of bradman and sachin he has saved the team uncountable times and was is and will remain the best no.3 batsman ever

All of this batsmen have more then 10 ten centuries in both forms of the game and all of them have scored more then 5000 runs in both forms of the game.Guys kindly do a research on this Top 10 Batsman.I dont have bradman,gavaskar,border,hammond,sobers,richards in my list because comparatively either most of them have not played both forms of the game or they have worst record in any one format

So guys cheer up this is the best players who have represented there country for more then 1 an half decades and most of them are still playing so why cant these be the best batsmen,bowler and allrounders of all time i am sure every one of you will accept this list.

All of this batsmen have more then 10 ten centuries in both forms of the game and all of them have scored more then 5000 runs in both forms of the game.Guys kindly do a research on this Top 10 Batsman.I dont have bradman,gavaskar,border,hammond,sobers,richards in my list because comparatively either most of them have not played both forms of the game or they have worst record in any one format

So guys cheer up this is the best players who have represented there country for more then 1 an half decades and most of them are still playing so why cant these be the best batsmen,bowler and allrounders of all time i am sure every one of you will accept this list.

So much bias for your own countries. Impossible to say who is best. Have to work on averages. Sachin's is not that high, infact Kallis' is higher. Kallis' is actually the highest in test cricket at the moment.

i don't know why dravid n kallis r not included in the list.........i think their average n runs speak everything.currently jack kallis is the best batsman in the world because his average is better than sachin tendulkar......